There were winners and losers Tuesday night when the Baltimore County Council approved or denied some of the more controversial requests for new zoning.

During this quadrennial exercise called the Comprehensive Zoning Map Process, the stakes are high for owners who seek a change of zoning for their property.

More often than not the requests are for a zoning classification that would allow the owner a wider range of lucrative uses for it and thus enhance its value.

But the stakes are also high for residents who believe they will be affected by the change.

Councilmen Bryan McIntire and Vince Gardina, who represent the 3rd and 5th districts, respectively, were heavily lobbied by both groups and reviewed the

Planning Board’s recommendations before they cast the deciding votes for requests from their own districts Tuesday.

As custom dictates, all the votes were unanimous. The  rest of the council exhibited councilmanic courtesy and followed suit.

• McIntire withheld the business zoning that the owner of the high-end Oregon Grille restaurant wanted for the property adjacent to Oregon Ridge Park that would  allow him to put tents over his two patios in case it rains.

With a vision of rained-out weddings, he’s bitter about it. But members of the Falls Road Community Association who felt any new business zoning could be a threat to the park can’t wipe the smiles off their faces.

“It was the toughest one of all,” said McIntire, “but in the end, I felt I had to stand up to protect the valleys. I must have received close to 1,000 communications on that one issue. I even received conflicting letters from members of the same family.”

•The owners of an acre tract and an acre-and-a-half tract on West Road less than a thousand feet west of York Road won big even though each property is relatively small.

Gardina approved the Business Major zoning classification that will allow anything from a hotel or motel, a theater and a warehouse to a night club, and with a special exception, a bus terminal.

It was a big loss for Riderwood Hills residents who worked on the Kenilworth Master Plan to protect their neighborhood from commercial intrusion. They say the decision contradicts the plan and virtually negates all the time and effort they put into it.

• The owner of the College Manor retirement home failed to win the zoning that would have allowed the construction of new apartments or condominiums for senior citizens on the park-like 11-acre tract in the heart of old Lutherville.

McIntire’s decisions is a theoretical victory for the Greater Timonium Community Council, the residential umbrella group that opposed the request.

Early drawings resemble the new four-story dwellings The Quarter is building  at the intersection of Dulaney Valley Road and Fairmount Avenue, said GTCC president Eric Rockel. “They would be out of scale with the surrounding neighborhood and it’s not an attractive image plopped down in the middle of old Lutherville,” he said.

But College Manor owner John Horine said he had withdrawn the request in February because of community opposition. He still wants to work with the neighborhood to come up with an acceptable plan, he said.

Hundreds of issues

These were just a few of the zoning requests affecting the local area — the County Council voted on more than 570 during this year’s Zoning Map Process. There were others that created plenty of buzz:

• The Timonium council chalked up a win when the owner of residential property on the northwest corner of York Road and Cavan Drive wasn’t granted business zoning by McIntire.
Rockel said it’s the fourth or fifth time the Orchard Hills residential community has had to protect the corner from commercial intrusion and the domino effect that might result from it.

• But the vote on the Maryland State Fairgrounds requesting zoning on all 101 acres for small-scale commercial  development — for instance, restaurants, banks and stores — was only a partial win, Rockel said.
McIntire agreed with the Planning Board’s recommendation that most of the current zoning remain in place but he granted roadside business use for 15 acres.

“We feel that’s way too much,” said Rockel. “We fear slots. We are comfortable with the family entertainment it now offers but they could sell off the commercial portion and there could be consequences we would not want.”
Inside the Beltway

Meanwhile, Gardina led the vote below the Beltway.

•The owners of the Colony Apartments were denied the rezoning they needed to replace the buildings with a mixed use complex of four-story apartment buildings and retail uses. Both West Towson and Riderwood Hills were opposed to the commercial rezoning.

• The owners of a group of properties in the 600 block of Bosley Avenue that now features  old houses with offices in them failed to win rezoning that would allow elevator buildings. West Towson wanted to preserve the residential-style buffer between its homes and the commercial core.

•The Knollwood-Donnybrook Community Association didn’t get the zoning it requested that would reduce the number of dwelling units that could occupy the 23-acre Donnybrook Apartments property. It was a pre-emptive strike to curb owner Continental Realty if it had any intention  of redeveloping the property into something the association feels is incompatible with the surrounding residential neighborhood

Continental made it clear the firm already had invested $8 million in renovating the exterior of the complex and would have trouble getting a bank loan to proceed with interior renovations if the new classification decreased the value of the property.

Pat Van den Beemt contributed to this article.

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